In “A Faithful Narrative”, Edwards reports of the beginning of the First Great Awakening, sparked (somewhat surprisingly) in a backwater town near Boston, the village of Northampton. Edwards, often deemed the father of the First Great Awakening, chronicles the “amazing works of God” and the explosion of conversions as a result of the conversion of one woman who was “concerned about the state of her soul”. The explosion of conversions surprisingly resulted in not just a local revival, but, in conjunction with several preachers in the South as well as George Whitfield’s preaching in the colonies, helped to spark the First Great Awakening where over one-in-ten Americans experienced conversion.  The most notable thing about the text is Edward’s depiction of the behavior of the public towards the conversion and the work of God in their day to day lives. Edwards tells us about the raw emotions that echoed throughout Northampton at the time, the joy of conversion, the horror of hell and the fear for their neighbors’ souls. Also something worthy of note is that Edwards never claims any responsibility for causing the revival and does not attempt to take credit for any of the conversions. He points to God and says that the Holy Spirit convicted the converts, not his words. This is characteristic of Edwards’ ministry throughout his life: he never personally took credit for any of the revivals happening throughout the colonies. I would use this text to point towards Edwards’ heart and passion for God’s work, as well as including it for its historical value of how the First Great Awakening started in America and how Edwards was used by God to be a part of it.

Edwards’ personal narrative is a very difficult thing to use, but I think I would use it in summation. Edwards’ final thoughts on his life were deliberately skewed to be of value to the next generation, showing and indicating points of wisdom, places where the young could learn from his mistakes and see God’s grace in spite of his foolishness. It was also written to show the power of God and how he worked miracles and, through one man’s life, changed the world. Large portions of Edwards’ testimony, including his conversion experience, are left out of Jonathan Edwards’ Personal Testimony, as is pointed out in this article. I would use this article to reinforce the argument that, even in Edwards’ last days, he had a pastor’s heart, a heart for teaching his people and for guiding them through the hard parts of life and showing them the love of  God, even when they can’t see it themselves.